February 11, 2025 • 14 mins
View Show Notes: https://hyperluxmagazine.com/curated-muse-podcast-no-art-school-no-problem-create-your-own/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Thank you so much for joining us.
by creating your own art school.
So with everybody being at homemore than usual this season,
(00:22):
people are searching for thingsto do.
People are also being morecreative.
They're making art.
They're doing home improvements.
They're writing.
And I have a friend recently whopublished his first book.
So there are so many differentthings that people are doing.
And overall, we are seeing a lotof people being more expressive
and coming up with creativethings to do and entertain
(00:44):
themselves because Becauseduring these times, we are often
home a lot or isolated.
So we're needing to fill thosegaps.
But it's pretty excellent.
The things that I'm seeing comeout of people.
I'm seeing some of the mostamazing creativity, amazing
writing, amazing film, differentways that people are connecting
(01:05):
to the community and givingback.
So as much as it has been adifficult time, I think a lot of
really beautiful things havecome out of it.
On the other hand, there are alot of people who are feeling a
lack of motivation, and they'refeeling stuck, and they're
uninspired, and that is totallyokay.
There's nothing wrong withfeeling that way, and it's okay
(01:26):
to swing between both of them,feel really inspired, and then
feel very uninspired.
These times are difficult,they're challenging, they're
unprecedented.
They're not something that weare used to being a part of or
used to understand, so we haveto a lot more thinking and a lot
more adapting and we're doingthe best that we can.
(01:48):
So for those of you that areinspired or those of you that
are not inspired at all, I knowthat a lot of people that listen
to this are artists and mosteverybody who's an artist wants
to improve their art.
They want to become better orthey even just want to get
started in a new medium orexploring something different as
(02:09):
an artist.
And many artists feel that artschool is the only way that
they're going to get aneducation.
And as interesting and rewardingas art school might be to
numerous people who have gone,which I know plenty of people in
the professional world who havegone through art school, it is
not the only way to improve yourskills or even become a
(02:31):
professional artist.
There are so many different waysto do that.
Now I'm not knocking art schoolbecause I think it can have
value, but some people aren'tmade for art school.
I wasn't made for art school andI also didn't have the finances
to go to art school, so I had tocreate my own.
And I'm still creating my ownart school all the time.
(02:53):
I am always trying to find a wayto learn.
And I want to let you know thatI listened to the Draftsmen
podcast recently and they had agreat episode.
Actually, they had a coupledifferent episodes.
One was called Benefits of Goingto Art School.
The other one was calledBenefits of Not Going to Art
School.
And then another one was CreateYour Own Workspace in Studio
(03:15):
from Home.
Listening to that series fromthem really inspired me.
inspired me to want to do thispodcast episode and encourage
you guys to do the same thing ifyou so were inclined to do so.
So as a professional artist, Ihave had no formal training, and
I don't like to use the word I'mself-taught because I'm not
(03:36):
self-taught.
I have read books, I've watchedvideos, I've taken classes, I've
done a lot of things on my ownsolo, but I learned a lot from
other people who are way moreinformed than I was.
If I was 100% self-taught, thatwould mean that I pretty much
learned by myself in a basementand had no access to anybody
(03:57):
else.
So if you're not creating in abasement all by yourself alone
for the last 10 years, then youare not a self-taught artist.
You are somebody that has noformal training.
And I think that sounds better.
Saying that you're self-taughtreally doesn't call back to the
people that you have learnedfrom.
Because we've all learned fromamazingly We have all picked up
(04:21):
skills by looking at differentYouTube videos or finding
artists online that we love andwe check out what we like about
their work or the mistakes thatwe don't like so we can change
our work.
Many of us have been a part ofFacebook groups where we have
done critiques or even in-personcritique groups.
So really, no one is aself-taught artist because you
(04:45):
are just a self-directed artistwho has learned from a lot of
people.
lot of other people.
And that's what makes us great.
The more people that we have inour life and the more resources
we have, the more able we are toexpand ourselves and become the
best version of ourselves.
So if you don't want to go toart school or you don't have the
resources, you can still giveyourself a pretty stellar arts
(05:10):
education, almost free.
Actually, you can give yourselfan arts education completely
free.
But no, there are also veryexcellent resources that are
also inexpensive for you to AndI want to take this quote by
Abraham Lincoln because I feellike it's very valid.
The best way to predict yourfuture is to create it.
(05:31):
And as artists, aren't wecreators?
That's what we're trying to do.
So what are the ways to createyour own art school?
First, you need to define all ofyour resources.
So I'm going to give you acomprehensive list of resources
where you can build your owncurriculum.
Number one, educational books.
(05:53):
I picked up a list off ofGoodreads, and it has so many
amazing books on that list.
I'm going to put that link inthe show notes, as well as those
episodes of The Draftsman I justmentioned.
Those will also be in the shownotes on the website.
So there's a list of books, atleast 50 that I would definitely
give a thumbs up to, that I'veheard about or I've read myself,
(06:15):
that I know are excellentresources.
Number two, YouTube videos.
Tutorials, how-tos, do's anddon'ts, lessons learned, advice
from artists, all free.
There are tons of differentartists giving out content for
free that is valuable.
There are so many artists in somany different genres and styles
(06:37):
that you can learn from andlearn almost anything you want
to learn for free.
YouTube is a wealth ofeducational yumminess.
Number three, teaching sites.
Udemy, Domestika, Skillshare,and like MoMA.
MoMA actually has free classes.
So Udemy and Domestika andSkillshare, they have all of
(07:00):
these independent classes thatare taught by various artists.
I have taken classes from themfor different things, for my
design business, as well as forart things that I love.
And I think that they haveexcellent, excellent classes and
you can get a lot of value fromthem.
And they're also not veryexpensive.
You can buy them in bundles.
(07:20):
And often if you just sign up,you can get them from really
cheap.
So for example, when I signed upto Udemy, Udemy's classes can be
anywhere from like 30 to like 60and even higher than that.
And I was able to pick up for mydesign business for somebody who
was working with me about eightclasses of various interests for
(07:42):
about$1,000.
$90.
And so that's on average around$10 a class, which is really,
really reasonable.
So I want you guys to check outthose sites.
I think they're excellent.
They're a wonderful resource.
Check out MoMA's site as wellfor their free classes.
Number four, artists on Patreon.
Patreon has become a really bigthing for creators.
(08:05):
But one of the coolest thingsthat I've noticed is that
creators are often giving awayeducational content.
And you can get it often for avery minimal fee.
There are artists that areasking for$2 to$5 a month, and
you have access to all of theirtutorials and all of their
information.
So number five is finding amentor.
(08:26):
Get instruction one-on-one froman artist.
I do that.
There are tons of other artiststhat do that, that do one-on-one
instruction.
All you have to do is reach out,email somebody, and ask them.
Or you can Google online andfind somebody even local to you.
Support your local community.
You You can work with somebodyone-on-one to get where you want
to go and do what you want to doand be more focused.
(08:49):
So number six is Facebookgroups.
A lot of people really don'tunderstand that there isn't just
groups on there where people gettogether and share things they
like.
There's actually groups on therethat help each other.
So for example, there's a groupcalled Animal Artist Beginners
to Advance, and people give eachother advice.
So you can actually get onFacebook, join a group, and And
(09:13):
become active so you can getinformation and also when other
people are posting their art andthey're getting feedback, you
can learn off of that feedbackas well as you can give feedback
and also you can get feedback onyour work.
It's a great way to learn andit's also a great way to have a
sense of community.
And right now we all need asense of community.
(09:35):
Number seven, there are localopportunities.
So where I live, there's LaneArts Council and there's Oregon
Art Supply.
And there's other things too.
There's quite a lot of resourceshere.
But Lane Arts Council offersclasses and mentorships and they
have a lot of really greatthings because they're our arts
organization.
So they have a lot of wonderfulofferings that are very
(09:56):
reasonable.
As well as Oregon Art Supply.
It's a smaller art supply storehere.
It's beautiful and lovely and Ilove the people that work there.
And they offer classes as well.
And a lot of these places aredoing things online.
So remember, we have a lot moreopportunity to do Number eight
(10:17):
is find or create your owncritique group.
And what this is, it's a groupof people that get together,
even writers do this, where youguys get together and you work
on certain projects and youbring it back and forth to the
group.
Some people meet once a month,other people meet once a week.
There's often projects orsometimes it's more free and
(10:38):
open, just like, hey, whateveryou create this week, bring it
back and we'll share it andwe'll do critiques.
And it is a type of group wherepeople give feedback and support
one another, where you get toshare what you're doing, but you
also can have feedback if you'dlike, as well as you can give
feedback to other artists, andit creates a camaraderie.
I have been a part of numerouspeer critique groups in various
(11:01):
aspects of my life, and I havefound nothing but great value
from them.
So that is probably one of thecoolest and most interesting
things to do.
Plus, now you can do it online.
There are a lot more more peoplethat are meeting online.
So you could start a Zoom groupand do something like that where
you guys create projects and youguys critique each other and you
(11:22):
guys support each other.
And it also creates, again, asense of community and also a
sense of continuity.
Meeting with people weekly makesyou accountable or meeting with
people monthly also makes youaccountable.
And being accountable andshowing up and do regular work
will help you improve.
That is is number nine.
(11:44):
It's not all about other people.
It's also about you and what youare willing to do.
Are you willing to do the work?
Are you willing to come in andpractice, practice, practice so
that you can improve and you canlearn?
If you're not willing to dothat, arts educational books and
YouTube and mentors and Patreonsaren't going to help you in a
(12:05):
way that you might like them to.
But if you're willing to showup, you're willing to do the
work, you're read the books, doyour sketchbook, do the art, and
continually hone in on yourcraft, then you will get better.
And you will start feelingbetter and better about what
you're creating.
And remember, it is not easy.
(12:27):
Even myself, who has been doingthis for 15 years on a public
stage, obviously doing it longerprior to, I'm still super hard
on myself.
I still make three things andthrow two of them away and
decide to keep one because Iknow that I'm not great at
everything I do.
And if I was, I would be a robotand not human.
(12:50):
So that's what I'd like toencourage you to do is to show
up and realize that you willgrow.
Time, effort, and consistency.
Showing up.
And so for you, dedication isimportant.
You don't have to be dedicated,but I'd like to encourage you to
be dedicated.
I'd love for you to take all ofthose tools and skills and
(13:13):
opportunities and use them toyour advantage because you have
them at the palm of your handthis is the first time in
history you can go to google andask google anything you can go
to youtube and ask youtubeanything and they are going to
have hundreds of answershundreds of good answers for you
about learning how to dowhatever you want to do so don't
(13:37):
let those resources go to wastethere's also hundreds of people
out there who have a ton ofcontent that So I hope you guys
have an absolutely wonderfulweek and I will see you in the
near future.
Thank you so much for joining us.
by creating your own art school.
So with everybody being at homemore than usual this season,
(00:22):
people are searching for thingsto do.
People are also being morecreative.
They're making art.
They're doing home improvements.
They're writing.
And I have a friend recently whopublished his first book.
So there are so many differentthings that people are doing.
And overall, we are seeing a lotof people being more expressive
and coming up with creativethings to do and entertain
(00:44):
themselves because Becauseduring these times, we are often
home a lot or isolated.
So we're needing to fill thosegaps.
But it's pretty excellent.
The things that I'm seeing comeout of people.
I'm seeing some of the mostamazing creativity, amazing
writing, amazing film, differentways that people are connecting
(01:05):
to the community and givingback.
So as much as it has been adifficult time, I think a lot of
really beautiful things havecome out of it.
On the other hand, there are alot of people who are feeling a
lack of motivation, and they'refeeling stuck, and they're
uninspired, and that is totallyokay.
There's nothing wrong withfeeling that way, and it's okay
(01:26):
to swing between both of them,feel really inspired, and then
feel very uninspired.
These times are difficult,they're challenging, they're
unprecedented.
They're not something that weare used to being a part of or
used to understand, so we haveto a lot more thinking and a lot
more adapting and we're doingthe best that we can.
(01:48):
So for those of you that areinspired or those of you that
are not inspired at all, I knowthat a lot of people that listen
to this are artists and mosteverybody who's an artist wants
to improve their art.
They want to become better orthey even just want to get
started in a new medium orexploring something different as
(02:09):
an artist.
And many artists feel that artschool is the only way that
they're going to get aneducation.
And as interesting and rewardingas art school might be to
numerous people who have gone,which I know plenty of people in
the professional world who havegone through art school, it is
not the only way to improve yourskills or even become a
(02:31):
professional artist.
There are so many different waysto do that.
Now I'm not knocking art schoolbecause I think it can have
value, but some people aren'tmade for art school.
I wasn't made for art school andI also didn't have the finances
to go to art school, so I had tocreate my own.
And I'm still creating my ownart school all the time.
(02:53):
I am always trying to find a wayto learn.
And I want to let you know thatI listened to the Draftsmen
podcast recently and they had agreat episode.
Actually, they had a coupledifferent episodes.
One was called Benefits of Goingto Art School.
The other one was calledBenefits of Not Going to Art
School.
And then another one was CreateYour Own Workspace in Studio
(03:15):
from Home.
Listening to that series fromthem really inspired me.
inspired me to want to do thispodcast episode and encourage
you guys to do the same thing ifyou so were inclined to do so.
So as a professional artist, Ihave had no formal training, and
I don't like to use the word I'mself-taught because I'm not
(03:36):
self-taught.
I have read books, I've watchedvideos, I've taken classes, I've
done a lot of things on my ownsolo, but I learned a lot from
other people who are way moreinformed than I was.
If I was 100% self-taught, thatwould mean that I pretty much
learned by myself in a basementand had no access to anybody
(03:57):
else.
So if you're not creating in abasement all by yourself alone
for the last 10 years, then youare not a self-taught artist.
You are somebody that has noformal training.
And I think that sounds better.
Saying that you're self-taughtreally doesn't call back to the
people that you have learnedfrom.
Because we've all learned fromamazingly We have all picked up
(04:21):
skills by looking at differentYouTube videos or finding
artists online that we love andwe check out what we like about
their work or the mistakes thatwe don't like so we can change
our work.
Many of us have been a part ofFacebook groups where we have
done critiques or even in-personcritique groups.
So really, no one is aself-taught artist because you
(04:45):
are just a self-directed artistwho has learned from a lot of
people.
lot of other people.
And that's what makes us great.
The more people that we have inour life and the more resources
we have, the more able we are toexpand ourselves and become the
best version of ourselves.
So if you don't want to go toart school or you don't have the
resources, you can still giveyourself a pretty stellar arts
(05:10):
education, almost free.
Actually, you can give yourselfan arts education completely
free.
But no, there are also veryexcellent resources that are
also inexpensive for you to AndI want to take this quote by
Abraham Lincoln because I feellike it's very valid.
The best way to predict yourfuture is to create it.
(05:31):
And as artists, aren't wecreators?
That's what we're trying to do.
So what are the ways to createyour own art school?
First, you need to define all ofyour resources.
So I'm going to give you acomprehensive list of resources
where you can build your owncurriculum.
Number one, educational books.
(05:53):
I picked up a list off ofGoodreads, and it has so many
amazing books on that list.
I'm going to put that link inthe show notes, as well as those
episodes of The Draftsman I justmentioned.
Those will also be in the shownotes on the website.
So there's a list of books, atleast 50 that I would definitely
give a thumbs up to, that I'veheard about or I've read myself,
(06:15):
that I know are excellentresources.
Number two, YouTube videos.
Tutorials, how-tos, do's anddon'ts, lessons learned, advice
from artists, all free.
There are tons of differentartists giving out content for
free that is valuable.
There are so many artists in somany different genres and styles
(06:37):
that you can learn from andlearn almost anything you want
to learn for free.
YouTube is a wealth ofeducational yumminess.
Number three, teaching sites.
Udemy, Domestika, Skillshare,and like MoMA.
MoMA actually has free classes.
So Udemy and Domestika andSkillshare, they have all of
(07:00):
these independent classes thatare taught by various artists.
I have taken classes from themfor different things, for my
design business, as well as forart things that I love.
And I think that they haveexcellent, excellent classes and
you can get a lot of value fromthem.
And they're also not veryexpensive.
You can buy them in bundles.
(07:20):
And often if you just sign up,you can get them from really
cheap.
So for example, when I signed upto Udemy, Udemy's classes can be
anywhere from like 30 to like 60and even higher than that.
And I was able to pick up for mydesign business for somebody who
was working with me about eightclasses of various interests for
(07:42):
about$1,000.
$90.
And so that's on average around$10 a class, which is really,
really reasonable.
So I want you guys to check outthose sites.
I think they're excellent.
They're a wonderful resource.
Check out MoMA's site as wellfor their free classes.
Number four, artists on Patreon.
Patreon has become a really bigthing for creators.
(08:05):
But one of the coolest thingsthat I've noticed is that
creators are often giving awayeducational content.
And you can get it often for avery minimal fee.
There are artists that areasking for$2 to$5 a month, and
you have access to all of theirtutorials and all of their
information.
So number five is finding amentor.
(08:26):
Get instruction one-on-one froman artist.
I do that.
There are tons of other artiststhat do that, that do one-on-one
instruction.
All you have to do is reach out,email somebody, and ask them.
Or you can Google online andfind somebody even local to you.
Support your local community.
You You can work with somebodyone-on-one to get where you want
to go and do what you want to doand be more focused.
(08:49):
So number six is Facebookgroups.
A lot of people really don'tunderstand that there isn't just
groups on there where people gettogether and share things they
like.
There's actually groups on therethat help each other.
So for example, there's a groupcalled Animal Artist Beginners
to Advance, and people give eachother advice.
So you can actually get onFacebook, join a group, and And
(09:13):
become active so you can getinformation and also when other
people are posting their art andthey're getting feedback, you
can learn off of that feedbackas well as you can give feedback
and also you can get feedback onyour work.
It's a great way to learn andit's also a great way to have a
sense of community.
And right now we all need asense of community.
(09:35):
Number seven, there are localopportunities.
So where I live, there's LaneArts Council and there's Oregon
Art Supply.
And there's other things too.
There's quite a lot of resourceshere.
But Lane Arts Council offersclasses and mentorships and they
have a lot of really greatthings because they're our arts
organization.
So they have a lot of wonderfulofferings that are very
(09:56):
reasonable.
As well as Oregon Art Supply.
It's a smaller art supply storehere.
It's beautiful and lovely and Ilove the people that work there.
And they offer classes as well.
And a lot of these places aredoing things online.
So remember, we have a lot moreopportunity to do Number eight
(10:17):
is find or create your owncritique group.
And what this is, it's a groupof people that get together,
even writers do this, where youguys get together and you work
on certain projects and youbring it back and forth to the
group.
Some people meet once a month,other people meet once a week.
There's often projects orsometimes it's more free and
(10:38):
open, just like, hey, whateveryou create this week, bring it
back and we'll share it andwe'll do critiques.
And it is a type of group wherepeople give feedback and support
one another, where you get toshare what you're doing, but you
also can have feedback if you'dlike, as well as you can give
feedback to other artists, andit creates a camaraderie.
I have been a part of numerouspeer critique groups in various
(11:01):
aspects of my life, and I havefound nothing but great value
from them.
So that is probably one of thecoolest and most interesting
things to do.
Plus, now you can do it online.
There are a lot more more peoplethat are meeting online.
So you could start a Zoom groupand do something like that where
you guys create projects and youguys critique each other and you
(11:22):
guys support each other.
And it also creates, again, asense of community and also a
sense of continuity.
Meeting with people weekly makesyou accountable or meeting with
people monthly also makes youaccountable.
And being accountable andshowing up and do regular work
will help you improve.
That is is number nine.
(11:44):
It's not all about other people.
It's also about you and what youare willing to do.
Are you willing to do the work?
Are you willing to come in andpractice, practice, practice so
that you can improve and you canlearn?
If you're not willing to dothat, arts educational books and
YouTube and mentors and Patreonsaren't going to help you in a
(12:05):
way that you might like them to.
But if you're willing to showup, you're willing to do the
work, you're read the books, doyour sketchbook, do the art, and
continually hone in on yourcraft, then you will get better.
And you will start feelingbetter and better about what
you're creating.
And remember, it is not easy.
(12:27):
Even myself, who has been doingthis for 15 years on a public
stage, obviously doing it longerprior to, I'm still super hard
on myself.
I still make three things andthrow two of them away and
decide to keep one because Iknow that I'm not great at
everything I do.
And if I was, I would be a robotand not human.
(12:50):
So that's what I'd like toencourage you to do is to show
up and realize that you willgrow.
Time, effort, and consistency.
Showing up.
And so for you, dedication isimportant.
You don't have to be dedicated,but I'd like to encourage you to
be dedicated.
I'd love for you to take all ofthose tools and skills and
(13:13):
opportunities and use them toyour advantage because you have
them at the palm of your handthis is the first time in
history you can go to google andask google anything you can go
to youtube and ask youtubeanything and they are going to
have hundreds of answershundreds of good answers for you
about learning how to dowhatever you want to do so don't
(13:37):
let those resources go to wastethere's also hundreds of people
out there who have a ton ofcontent that So I hope you guys
have an absolutely wonderfulweek and I will see you in the
near future.
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